Thought I would share this with you all. As part of the daily process of lighting the wood heater I have taken to using my flint and steel to produce an ember of char cloth. Then I use clematis bark roughly bufffed to get the flame and then onto thin larch twigs and away. Unfortunately but realistically the clematis is often damp close the wood and therefore the whole tinder bunch is damp, if one is not careful you can blow it up to flame but the dampness stops it going nicely. This means that you end up blowing your bundle into small embers that are useless and you either give it all a helping hand (see petro-chemicals) or start over. If however you use six very fine twigs on either side of the bundle this not only serves as a handle but you by moving it about ( and when you're in the sitting room you cannot do the waving it about, holding it out at arms length ala' Mr Mears, you have to do the lot in the fire box) and then blow the tinder so that the first flame hits the wood of the twigs. It ends up being like an ice cream between two wafers if you follow. This ways every flame counts. I have an interest in damp fires as I am convinced that if you cannot get lit damp then realistically you cannot get it lit.
All the best
Stephen
All the best
Stephen
